New Mexico State football depth chart coming into focus as Aggies prepare for opener

LAS CRUCES – The New Mexico State football team held its final scrimmage of fall camp on Saturday and will now turn to preparations and minor roster adjustments ahead of the season opener on Aug. 26 against Massachusetts.

"(Saturday) was a tremendous evaluation of a lot of people who are talented enough to play but may be a three instead of a two," Aggies head coach Jerry Kill said.

The Aggies started to prepare for UMass on Monday.

NM State beat UMass 23-13 in a comeback effort on the road last year in what turned out to be a turning point for the Aggies season.

"I think everyone is always ready to get out of camp, but there is still plenty of things that we can be better at fundamentally and as an offensive line," Aggies center Canaan Yarro said. "But the focus is going to start to shift to getting ready for football games and getting ready for the season."

More: New Mexico State Film Room: Diego Pavia executes game sealing drive at UMass

Diego Pavia firmly atop quarterback depth chart

Pavia zipped a 25-yard touchdown pass to Kordell David during Saturday's scrimmage with David high-pointing the ball over a defender.

It's a pass that Pavia may have thrown last season, but he enters his second year more confident in the ins and outs of the Aggies offense.

"It's just more going through my reads more than anything," Pavia said. "What I was proud of myself today was throwing a little drag because I missed it in film a few days ago, so when I hit that, I was proud of myself and just kept it rolling."

If Pavia can improve on his 53% completion percentage last season, as expected, his ability to make plays with his feet will be more difficult to defend.

"It's something that every quarterback has to be able to do and that is one indicator of guys who separate themselves, is what they can do when the play breaks down," Aggies offensive coordinator Tim Beck said. "It's part of the reason why he won the job last year."

While Pavia will start against UMass, Kill would not say who the primary backup would be for the first game; however, sophomore Gavin Frakes, freshman Blaze Berlowitz and transfer Eli Stowers have all been taking reps against the scout team.

Aggies look to make it two straight against UMass

NM State trailed 10-0 and 13-3 at halftime at UMass last year and Pavia came off the bench to help the Aggies outscore UMass 13-0 in the second half.

Pavia never relinquished the starting job and led the Aggies to a seven-win season and a bowl-game victory.

UMass was 1-11 in Don Brown's first season as head coach and Kill expects another tight game at Aggie Memorial Stadium.

"They are able to play man because they always have good corners, they are going to make it miserable for you up front, they are going to stop the run and get seven or eight in the box," Kill said. "They put so much pressure on you that it's hard to get the ball off."

The Aggies expect the game to be determined up front on both sides of the ball. UMass rushed for 162 yards and held the Aggies to 111 yards rushing and a 0 for 12 third down conversion rate.

"The biggest thing last year was a couple penalties early that really cost us and against a defense like that, you can't encourage them," Beck said. "You have to get plays in early on to make sure you know what they are doing upfront. We have to get off to a better start against them and they are going to pressure so you have to be able to handle it."

UMass was not good on offense, averaging 13 points per game — last in FBS. UMass will have a new quarterback this season after adding Georgia Tech transfer Taisun Phommachanh and Carlos Davis from Western Carolina to try to jump-start the offense.

"They want to read downhill and run between the tackles and beat the heck out of you like a zone type of football team," Aggies defensive coordinator Nate Dreiling said. "That is a huge emphasis for the defensive line and the linebackers being able to control their gap. It's got to be every single play."

Jason Groves can be reached at 575-541-5459 or jgroves@lcsun-news.com. Follow him on Twitter @jpgroves.

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: New Mexico State football depth chart coming into focus